Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Iran, the fifth-largest crude
exporter as recently as 2011, sold the least in 21 months in
October as China, India, South Korea and Japan curbed purchases
amid Western sanctions targeting the nation’s nuclear program.

Imports from the Persian Gulf state fell by 45 percent to
715,000 barrels a day last month from September, the
International Energy Agency, a Paris-based adviser to 28
nations, said in an e-mailed report today. The shipments, which
the IEA estimates from tanker tracking, media reports and
customs’ data, would be the smallest since January 2012.

U.S. sanctions from the start of last year meant buyers of
Iranian oil had to limit purchases or risk having their banks
excluded from America’s financial system. Almost all the world’s
tankers were barred from hauling the Gulf state’s fuel six
months later when European Union rules took effect because the
ships were insured by companies following EU law. The West
suspects Iran is building nuclear sites for military purposes,
while Tehran says the program is for civilian purposes.

“Signs are emerging that the National Iranian Oil Co. is
finding it increasingly difficult to place barrels against the
backdrop of sanctions,” the IEA said.

The nation’s daily sales to China slid to 300,000 barrels
from 475,000 in September, the IEA said. Supplies to India
slumped to 165,000 barrels from 300,000 barrels; deliveries to
Japan declined to less than 100,000 barrels from 250,000 barrels
and those to South Korea fell to 65,000 barrels from 135,000,
according to the agency. It counts shipments based on when they
are imported by the receiving country.

Discount Prices

Iran is trying to sell more crude to India by offering to
deliver cargoes for free, equating to price discounts of about
$1 a barrel, the IEA said.

Declining sales prompted the Islamic republic to move about
300,000 barrels a day onto tankers for storage, according to the
IEA. The total amount of unsold crude on ships is 37 million
barrels, it said. About 6 million barrels are being stored off
Chinese ports, the agency estimated.

Iran exported $84.4 billion of crude petroleum oils in
2011, according to ITC TradeMap, a venture between the United
Nations and World Trade Organization. Saudi Arabia, Russia, the
United Arab Emirates and Nigeria all had bigger sales by value.
Iran ranked 12th last year with sales of $$52.7 billion.